GOP Texas senator questions ‘legal theory’ behind Trump’s lawsuit to challenge state’s election results

Texas Sen. John Cornyn (R) questioned why the state’s attorney general, Ken Paxton (R), believed his state’s officials should have a say over how other states conduct their elections.

Speaking with CNN’s Manu Raju, Cornyn was referring to Paxton’s claim that the results of voting in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Georgia were “tainted” due to changes to election processes in those states.

“You know, it’s very unusual because when a state sues a state, the Supreme Court of the United States has original jurisdiction, so you don’t have to go through the ordinary procedure. I read just the summary of it, and I frankly struggle to understand the legal theory of it,” Cornyn told CNN.

“Number one, why would a state, even such a great state as Texas, have a say-so on how other states administer their elections?” the senator continued. “We have a diffused and dispersed system, and even though we might not like it, they may think it’s unfair those are decided at the state and local level and not at the national level. So it’s an interesting theory, but I’m not convinced.”

“You know, it’s very unusual because when a state sues a state, the Supreme Court of the United States has original jurisdiction, so you don’t have to go through the ordinary procedure. I read just the summary of it, and I frankly struggle to understand the legal theory of it.”

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) December 9, 2020

His remarks come despite Texas’s other Republican senator, Ted Cruz, reportedly agreeing Wednesday to the president’s request for him to present the case before the Supreme Court should it decide to hear the case on the merits.

The court moved Tuesday to dismiss an effort by pro-Trump attorneys to overturn election results in Pennsylvania in a separate lawsuit.

Cruz had previously offered to argue that case before the Supreme Court as well. The president’s legal efforts to overturn or invalidate state election results have seen no success thus far.

Dozens of individual lawsuits have been dismissed at the state and federal level over the past several weeks as Trump continues to refuse to accept President-elect Joe Biden’s win.